Itching to reunite with Vicky Kaushal after Uri, director Aditya reveals his ambitious plans for a modern-day superhero film, The Immortal Ashwatthama
Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; March 12, 2020)

With his directorial debut Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), Aditya Dhar showed that he had the gumption to mount a film on a grand scale. For his second venture, he has turned to a more ambitious subject — he hopes to tell the story of the mythological character Ashwatthama with The Immortal Ashwatthama. The director, who is currently developing the script, reveals that the Vicky Kaushal-fronted drama will be made as a trilogy.

"We are planning to make it in three parts. For now, we are concentrating on the first part because [making] that is such a huge task. If we perfect that, the second and third [editions] will be made," explains Dhar, who turns 37 today.

The film, which is expected to go on floors by end of 2020, has been envisioned as a modern-day adaptation of the epic. While the Mahabharat has offered several revered heroes, Dhar says his fascination for Ashwatthama — the son of Dronacharya who was given the boon of immortality — stems from the character's "imperfections". "As a character, Ashwatthama was flawed. He was arrogant, egoistic and temperamental. That made him more human than every other character [in the epic]," he analyses, adding that the project will be mounted on a lavish budget. "We don't want to compromise on the scale. We want to make a superhero film and hopefully, achieve what Marvel is doing globally."

His last collaboration with Kaushal had both of them walking away with National Awards. The director believes that their next will not only test their talent, but also their commitment to the craft. "Vicky will need to gain weight, he has to weigh close to 115 kilos for the part. Besides his physical transformation, he will have to pick up various martial arts, sword fighting, and archery. Luckily, he is learning horse-riding for Takht, so that will come handy in our film."

Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; January 11, 2020)

Last year, Uri: The Surgical Strike released in the theatres on January 11. The film bagged many popular awards and also won four National Awards. Celebrating the first anniversary of its release, and marking the start of their next project, Ashwatthama, the film’s team — producer Ronnie Screwvala, director Aditya Dhar and actors Vicky Kaushal and Yami Gautam chat with BT about how the film impacted their lives and their plans ahead. Excerpts:

Today, a year after the release of Uri: The Surgical Strike, how’s the josh?
Aditya: Very high! (laughs with the rest of the team!)
Yami: We had our first screening on January 9, 2019. After the Delhi promotions, we landed in Mumbai for it. We had booked five screens and were surprised to see that they were all packed, and more people were waiting. So, we had to book two more shows. Also, the film changed so much for me. Uri gave me that chance to display the depth that I can bring to a character.
Ronnie: I had the highest level of confidence among all of us because I sort of knew where we were headed with this, and a year later, the josh is even higher. The response to this film was tremendous, and war films have a different definition now. Uri impacted people and inspired many youngsters to join the Armed Forces. That is where a movie gets out of the skin of being a mere film.
Vicky: I had seen the film during the edit, but I didn’t know if I liked it because I was in it, or because it had those sentiments. I always asked Aditya, ‘Yaar, log dekhne toh aayenge na?’ I hoped they would come, the rest depended on destiny. We were not prepared for the overwhelming response that Uri got. People just took the film home.

Aditya, you had mentioned that the film faced hurdles, including budget issues. Today, it has bagged many awards, including four National Awards. Have all the struggles been worth it?
Ronnie: That was just to keep everyone on their toes. With our next, Ashwatthama, they will have to dig their heels in and no puns intended here. Yes, Uri was an ambitious project and the team came around incredibly well. Passion overtook everything else.
Aditya: The pressure from Ronnie made us think of ingenious things that we would not have thought about otherwise. It taught me to make things look grand in a tight budget. We prepared a book with pictures of how a scene would look, and we made extensive and detailed storyboards. That knowledge will come in handy now, when we start working on Ashwatthama.

While Aditya was making his debut as a director with the film, Ronnie, you were returning to the film business after a seven-year hiatus. Would you say the risk paid off?
Aditya: I don’t think anyone can ask for a better debut than this. The response to the film made me understand that I have immense responsibility on my shoulders. Uri has given me the confidence to attempt a challenging project like Ashwatthama.
Ronnie: I had stepped out of media for seven years and this was a comeback of sorts. If you stick to your convictions, you will get around fine. It was life-changing to get the reaffirmation from the public we cater to. Uri was a precursor to something bigger that we have been planning.

After Uri, the three of you (Vicky, Aditya and Ronnie) are collaborating on another ambitious project, Ashwatthama. Are you ready for the challenge?
Vicky: As an actor, if the script affects me, I plunge into it and give it my best. What a film can do for my career is not in my hands. Uri was a good film, and so people felt that I could shoulder a movie on my own. This happens when a film hits a home run. I’m very excited to start work on Ashwatthama. It’s a great script and it’s scaring me in a good way.
Aditya: We start the pre-production on our ambitious superhero film Ashwathtama today. We’ve taken an Indian story and are attempting to give it a global appeal, so that people around the world can enjoy it. It’s more than a straight-jacketed superhero outing. It takes a leaf out of Ashwatthama’s character from Mahabharat. We will start shooting in 2021.
Ronnie: Launching a satellite may seem possible by just pressing a button after the countdown. However, the real effort goes into creating the platform, rocket and mechanism, so that it can reach its destination. That takes time and a lot of meticulous planning. That’s how we see Ashwatthama shaping up and that’s the reason it will roll out only when the groundwork is completely done.

Aditya Dhar's first film has put him on the Bollywood map; reveals he could revisit a romcom, initially planned for Katrina Kaif and Fawad Khan, with a new cast shortly
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 6, 2019)

After the recent air strikes on Balakot in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, one had expected Aditya Dhar to announce a sequel to his debut directorial, Uri: The Surgical Strike, featuring Vicky Kaushal in the lead, however, the he is very sure he doesn’t want to repeat himself and would rather explore something new. “With Uri, I brought back films on the army and while I am open to doing another should I come across a story about courage in crisis, at this point, I would rather pioneer another trend,” he asserts.

Talking about the current political scenario, Aditya has full confidence in the Indian Army and the government to deal with acts of terror in the best way possible. “This menace has to be stopped once and for all. I believe in dialogue but after a point, we need to take strong action,” the filmmaker states.

The film industry recently took a collective stand, imposing a ban on Pakistani artists. Aditya points out that while as individuals, these artistes may not be against us, but when such attacks happen at regular intervals, one needs to completely isolate the country supporting terrorism. “There’s a lot of trade happening between the two countries and they also need to take this stand as this is the best way to tackle terrorism,” he avers.

When the Uri attacks took place on September 18, 2016, the director was working on the prep of a film titled Raat Baaki. It was to feature Katrina Kaif and Pakistani actor, Fawad Khan. The film was put on the backburner following the ban on the artists from across the border. “It was a romcom laced with action and while my office was trying to figure whom to cast in place of Fawad, I was fascinated by the surgical strikes that took place 11 days later on September 29 and started my research on October 1,” he reminisces, saying it was a kind of investigative journalism as the information he was trying to access was confidential.

Quiz him on whether he’d like to revisit Raat Baaki with a different cast and he says, “I haven’t figured my next film yet but it will be one of the scripts I’ve written over the last seven years. It could be Raat Baaki which is a fun film. Everybody was sad when things didn’t materialise. I don’t rule out the possibility of another film either. Uri was an exhausting film and I’m on a break right now but will soon return to one of my ideas.”

Uri is the most successful film helmed by a debutant, surpassing the previous record holder Sajid Nadiadwala’s Salman Khan-starrer Kick. While Aditya is understandably proud of the feat, he believes records are meant to be broken. “Not in our wildest dream did we think we would get so much appreciation and adulation from the audience. It was a special film as it was a tribute to the army, but the numbers we have earned are insane given it was my debut as a director and Vicky’s first commercial film as the solo lead. I hope, some other debutant breaks my record soon,” he smiles, admitting it’s overwhelming when politicians use lines from his film like “How’s The Josh?” and “Yeh Naya India Hai.”

After Uri, Vicky has become a mainstream Hindi actor and Aditya hopes to see his hero scale new heights. “He has reached this position after a lot of struggle and toil. He’s got talent so this thing was bound to happen, sooner or later. It’s just that I recognised his potential as a commercial actor before anyone else,” Aditya concludes with a twinkle. 

Uri director decodes military catchphrase ‘how’s the josh?’ that has resonated with viewers
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; February 7, 2019)

When acting Finance Minister Piyush Goyal asked ‘How’s the josh?’ during his Interim Budget speech last week, it only reaffirmed that Bollywood had, once again, given a new catchphrase to the country. After Jadoo Ki Jhappi from Sanjay Dutt’s Munna Bhai MBBS (2003), Chak De! India from Shah Rukh Khan’s 2007 film by the same name and All Izz Well from the track in the Aamir Khan-starrer 3 Idiots (2009), Vicky Kaushal’s dialogue from Uri: The Surgical Strike has now found popularity among the audience.

“I don’t know how it caught on,” beams writer-director Aditya Dhar, whose dialogue has become part of daily lingo, with everyone from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Indian cricket team squad to college students mouthing it. “We did not expect it to be such a rage. I thought it was a great dialogue for Major Vihan Shergill [Kaushal’s character]; a line to raise the josh of the guys in the regiment. Now, it is being mouthed by the young and old.”

The debutant director is happy to note that it has resonated strongly with the audience. “It is encouraging people who are going through emotional upheavals or are physically tired. It is being used as a phrase to raise spirits, and that’s a beautiful feeling.”

Dhar reveals that the dialogue stemmed from his childhood memory when he would visit Army camps along with his friends whose parents were in the Armed Forces. “Army officers used to say it to encourage their troops, but it was not something that was widely used. The memory stuck on, and made its way into the film.”

Deepali Singh (DNA; February 3, 2019)

If there’s one question that everyone’s been asking director Aditya Dhar post the success of Uri: The Surgical Strike, it’s this — How’s the josh? And naturally, the debutant filmmaker’s response is, ‘Really, really high!’ “And it’s going to remain high for the rest of my life,” he adds, when we speak to him over the phone.

For the 35-year-old Delhiite, it’s been a surreal experience — of seeing what was supposed to be his first movie get shelved, and then to receive so much love for what eventually became his debut film. “More than anything, I’m enjoying seeing the happiness on my parents’ faces, because they really backed me and believed in me,” says Aditya.

Between him and producer Ronnie Screwvala, they have a saying that goes, ‘all glory is fleeting’. So even as he basks in the success of the Vicky Kaushal-starrer, he’s also keeping his head down and focussing on what to do next. Excerpts from a chat with Aditya...

The war drama has been lauded by critics and masses alike. How does the validation feel? 
It feels incredible and truly overwhelming. The best validation that I got was firstly from the army officers and their families. They told us that they loved the movie and how we have represented the sacrifices made by the army men and what the families go through. Secondly, after the film, we’ve had 15 and 16-year-olds coming up to say that they want to join the army. That’s huge! We never thought this would happen but when it’s happening, it makes you feel ki kuch toh sahi kiya hai.

In a recent interview, Vicky Kaushal worded it beautifully when he said that the reason your first film didn’t get made, became your actual first film. Do you believe it’s destiny at play?
Absolutely. It’s completely surreal. In cinema as well as in life, you have to keep at it. My previous movie Raat Baaki with Fawad Khan and Katrina Kaif didn’t happen because the terrorist attacks took place and within the next few days, the surgical strike happened. Now, as filmmakers and in life, you have to turn all the disappointments into opportunities. You have to make the best of what you have in hand. While we were trying to figure out who to recast (since Pakistani actors were banned from India post the attacks), I wanted to know more about the surgical strike because suddenly that sounded like a great story. But it meant talking to a lot of journalists, retired army officers, etc. as most of it was classified information. It was almost like investigative journalism and took me six months to piece together everything, bit by bit. Then one of my colleagues called me and said somebody else is also trying to get permission from the Indian Army to make a film on the surgical strike. I panicked because pehle hi meri ek film bante bante atak gayi thi and I thought yeh bhi atak jayegi. The only way a first-time filmmaker could have convinced or can convince a producer is if he has a fantastic script. I wrote mine within 12 days and pitched it to the producers. Ronnie Screwvala was boarding a flight to Vizag and he read it on the flight. The moment he landed, he called and said we’re doing this film. So, where it was taking me years to make one movie, when it was meant to happen, it was commissioned within a few hours. That’s destiny at play.

You wanted to join the army at one point. Is the success of the film more special because of that connection?
Yes, for sure. This film was an honest tribute to our army. It’s also a tribute to their families and what they go through. As a filmmaker, this was the closest I could come to it. I could create characters that would be remembered and loved for the rest of my life.

So, what’s next? Are you taking a break or have you started work on the next project?
I’m taking a breather but the fun part begins now because everyone is asking what’s next. That’s the challenge and I’m enjoying it. The pressure keeps me on my toes. Now, I need to think of something that is better than even Uri, and that is going to be really difficult to do. I have to push myself in the right direction to create something that’s memorable and which we can all be proud of.

After Pakistani social media user's review goes viral, Uri director negates critique that film shows neighbouring country in a bad light
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; February 2, 2019)

Its resounding success at the box office aside, Vicky Kaushal’s Uri: The Surgical Strike has won critical acclaim for its depiction of the Indian Army’s efforts in the 2016 surgical strike against Pakistan. However, recently, a review of the Aditya Dhar-directed film by a Pakistani cinephile attracted the attention of social media users — the reviewer opined that the military drama not only glorified war but also presented Pakistanis as “headless chickens”.

Taking the critique head-on, Dhar says, “A person has to be evil to think war is a great thing. We all need peace. Having said that, if we want to defend our borders, we have to fight these elements. As a filmmaker, I was telling the story in chronological order. My point was to showcase the bravado of our army. Soldiers don’t like killing people.”

The debutant director goes on to add that the film takes a stand against terrorism, and not against a country per se. “The film isn’t made with a motive to undermine another country. Uri is about the fight against terrorism. It even had dialogues like, ‘Hamari jung Pakistani junta se nahi hai.’ Any sane mind from the other side of the border should be able to see the intention.”

Considering its release coincided with the election year and shows the Government in a positive light, there has been enough chatter about the Yami Gautam starrer being a propaganda film. Point this out to Dhar, and he says, “The release date was planned a year back. January 11 [seemed the ideal date] as January 15 is Army Day, followed by Republic Day on January 26. It’s a tribute to the Army and wasn’t backed by any political party. The film is a depiction of what happened. If the decision was taken by a party, we have to include it in the narrative.”

Harshada Rege (DNA; December 19, 2018)

Uri: The Surgical Strike brings to light what happened during the Indian army’s surgical strikes against Pakistan as a retaliation for the Uri attack in 2016. Since the actual defence operation took place in the night, a majority of the portion had to be shot after the sun went down. Director Aditya Dhar says, “Yes, since the actual attacks happened in the night, we had to shoot a majority of the portions after sunset so that the portrayal was as real as possible. The last 40 minutes of the film are about the attacks.”

Shooting in the night came with its own set of challenges for the cast, which includes Vicky Kaushal, Mohit Raina, Paresh Rawal and Yami Gautam, as well as the crew. Aditya adds, “It was extremely difficult not only because it was a night shoot but also because we were filming action sequences. Moreover, the location was in the forest areas with low temperatures. So, for the crew, it was physically demanding and mentally exhausting. But everybody worked in sync as we were focussed on representing the Indian army in the truest way possible.”

MUMBAI MIRROR (December 10, 2018)

Filmmaker Aditya Dhar, who is making his directorial debut with Uri: The Surgical Strike, has said that his film hasn’t shown Pakistanis in poor light and he hoped they too will appreciate the movie.

Uri: The Surgical Strike is based on the Indian Army’s surgical strike on terrorist camps in Pakistan in retaliation for the terror attack on an Army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir in 2016.

Asked if his film would be released in Pakistan, he said: “It doesn’t bother me. I have made this film for our country, citizens of this country and our Army. If Pakistani audience trusts us and if they will watch the film, they will realise that we haven’t spoken anything negative about Pakistani citizens. Whatever statement we have made in this film is about terrorism. If they realise that we are only fighting against terrorism and not against any country or its citizens, then they will really appreciate the film.”

The film features Vicky Kaushal as an Indian commando (pictured) who is involved in the 2016 strike, Yami Gautam, Kirti Kulhari and Paresh Rawal in lead roles “I hope people come to theatres to watch the film and appreciate it. I want them to realise how much sacrifice the Indian Army makes for the citizens,” Aditya added.